The Twenty-Seventh Intersessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community CARICOM will be held in Belize 16-17 February, 2016. Prior to the Summit, we will provide some insights into Belize and its role in CARICOM.
The Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister of Belize, currently holds the Chairmanship of the Conference of Heads of Government of theCaribbean Community (CARICOM) and is the lead Head of Government with responsibility for Justice and Governance in the CARICOM Quasi Cabinet.
He will host his colleague Heads of Government and their delegations at Placencia, in Belize for the Twenty-Seventh Intersessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government 16-17 February, 2016.
Prime Minister Barrow was born in Belize City on March 2, 1951. He was trained at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill (LL.B. 1973); Norman Manley Law School, Mona (Certificate of Legal Education, 1975); University of Miami School of Law (L.M. 1981) and the University of Miami (M.A. International Relations).
He was first elected to the House of Representatives at the 1984 General Elections as the United Democratic Party candidate in the Queen’s Square electoral division. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Economic Development in the 1984-1989 UDP administration.
Mr. Barrow was re-elected to his Queen’s Square House seat in 1989 and 1993. In the 1993-1998 UDP term in government, he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and National Security, and Attorney General.
Following the UDP’s defeat at the 1998 election, Mr. Barrow, who had retained his seat in the House of Representatives, was elected Leader of the Opposition. As party leader, he was again re-elected as Area Representative for Queen’s Square at the 2003 General Election, and increased his party’s standing in the House of Representatives. On February 7, 2008, Mr. Barrow led the UDP to office in a landslide General Election victory. In Belize’s sixth post-independence election, the UDP won 25 of the 31 seats in the House of Representatives.
Mr. Barrow led his party to victory again in the 2015 General Elections.